Greaser's Life
by Nicole Love
Summary: Chapter One
1. Chapter 1

Ponyboy's POV

It was a cold night. I could barely sleep. My window was cracked open a bit and the cool Tulsa air breezed in and stung my face. I pulled the blanket to cover my bare shoulders, my feet hung over the bed slightly. Sodapop was sound asleep by my side. His heavy arm was stretched on me, protecting me from the night. Something was going to happen, I had a bad feeling. I could hear Darry snoring from his favorite couch in the living room. Soda let out a grunt and rolled over. His arm went with him, I am venerable, alone. I watched the trees outside sway like they were dancing, having a party, maybe. I shut my eyes and tried to fake myself into sleeping. Cars drove passed my house, there motors were loud in the silence of the night. I opened one eye and shifted it towards the clock, 4:52 AM. I shivered and before I knew it, I drifted off to sleep.

"Pony," I felt a quick shake. "Pony!" Another shake.

"What? What is it?" I answered, startled.

"Get up, man. It's 12:30, I'm goin' to work and Darry wants to talk to you." It was Sodapop. I wouldn't budge, so he tickled me until I laughed my guts out I finally heaved myself out of my safe bed. I took my red shirt out of my dresser and pulled it onto my body. I walked into the kitchen to Darry reading the newspaper.

"Mornin'. Slept like a baby, I'll bet?" Darry said, sarcastically.

"Yeah, like a baby." I lied. I'm a pretty good liar. If I told Darry what really happened last night, he would've sent me straight to a hospital to run some tests.

"Want some breakfast? Soda made eggs."

"No, I'm not hungry. Sodapop said you wanted to talk to me 'bout something?"

"Oh yeah, what do you think of this?" He pointed to an article in his newspaper. I read it aloud.

"Kid hit by train at 4:30 this morning." I let the heading sink in. "Do they know who it was?" I asked, finally.

"Naw, not yet. They did say that the girl had red hair, that's about it." I felt a wave of emotions flow throughout my entire body, I stood there, frozen.

"Cherry." I mumbled. I could feel little beads of sweat forming on my hairline.

"What'd you say, Pony?" Darry looked up at me.

"Oh n-nothing. I'm gonna go make a few phone calls." I ran into the living room and picked up the phone. I dialed Dallas first.

"Hello?" He said, sounding cooler than ever.

"Hey, it's Ponyboy."

"Oh hey, Pony. What's goin' on?"

"Did you hear about that train accident this morning?"

"Did I hear about it? Man, I was there." I gulped and forced words out of my mouth, trying not to choke on my sentence.

"W-well, what happened?"

"Alright," his voice quieted down, "it was late and Two-Bit and me were on our way back from the city."

"What were you guys doin' in the city that late?"

"Egging Socs houses," he sounded proud, then went on, "anyway, we got to this one house, it was huge. Very Socy. We pulled out our carton of eggs and fired. It hit a window. All of a sudden, a girl came outside. We bolted, man. She ran after us, we thought we were done for. That broad was fast, I'll tell ya. We slowed down, thought we lost her. Naw, it was just really dark. It was cold out there, man. We were passing the railroad, we didn't exactly check to see if a train was coming, she was still following us. Put the puzzle together, Pon."

"Was it, Cherry?" I forced out. I covered my face with my hand and waited for the answer.

"Uh, I think. But I think she's fine. I mean it wasn't all that fast, the train was a little freight. It couldn't have…killed her." He was silent.

"Where is she?" I felt my voice raise. Why did I care so much about a Soc? Dally didn't answer.

"WHERE IS SHE?!" I hollered, "Sorry, I-I didn't mean it like that."

"I don't know, Pony. What's it to you, I mean, why do you care so much about her?"

"I don't know. It's weird, but last night…" He cut me off.

"What'd you do last night?"

"No, nothing like that," I felt my ears get hot, "I couldn't sleep. I kept looking out the window and shivering. I could, like, sense something was…wrong." I heard a chuckle from the other end of the phone.

"Your crazy, man." I stiffened.

"Whatever. I just know that something isn't right."

"Okay." I heard a hanging up noise and clicked the "off" button on my phone. There was a rap at the door. The first person that popped into my head was Cherry, I yelled "I got it" and walked over to the door tiredly.

"Hey Pony. Where's Sodapop? We got twenty minutes 'til work." It was Steve, he walked passed me like I wasn't there, eying the kitchen table. He located the eggs and dug in. Soda came around the corner and gave Steve a friendly punch on the shoulder and sat down next to him. He reached over Darry and grabbed the salt. He doesn't like pepper, at all. He grabbed a plate and pulled it toward him, plopped his fluffy eggs onto his plate and drowned it with salt. I stood in the living room, pacing the ground, thinking of what to do._ She doesn't like you, _I told myself. She is a Soc, I am a Greaser. I forced myself to smile and headed into the kitchen with the others.

"Pony, can you get me some water, man, chilled." I obeyed Soda, everyone does. I reached my arm into the refrigerator and searched around for bottled water, nothing. My arm felt wobbly, I had no control. My world was spinning, around and around, I was twirling rapidly. I could feel everyone's eyes on me, I couldn't see them though. I could feel the cold ground underneath me. Everything went dark.

"Pony? Ponyboy?" My vision came back into focus.

"Whoa. What happened?" I felt my self come off the ground. A strong arm was pulling me upward.

"You fainted. Are you sick or something, Pony?" Steve called from the table, his mouth was full and little bits of food were spewing everywhere. I nodded.

"Yeah, I guess…so."

"Get some sleep, kid. You don't want to be sick for Tuesday." Tuesday? What's on Tuesday?

"Why not?" I asked, confused. Everyone exchanged looks.

"I'm going to College. We are going to try to make Soda be your legal guardian until I graduate." Darry's words sounded like nails screeching down a chalk board. They suffocated me, wrapped around my neck, causing a squeal to immerge from my throat. I opened my mouth, no words came out.

"Pony?" Darry waved his hand in front of my face, snapping me out of my daze.

"You can't go! What if Soda can't be my guardian? What if I have to go to a boys' home? How are you going to pay for it?"

"Calm down. I…we…have known about this for awhile now. I told you about a month ago. You won't have to go to a boys' home, everything is going to be fine. An old friend is giving me the money. But that part you don't have to worry about."

"No." I folded my arms across my chest.

"You have no say in this. I'm going to college. That's the end of this conversation. Now, go lie down, get better. I have work soon, rest up. Have a nice day, see you around five." With that, he walked out the door and took my heart with him. Darry not living with us? I remember last year, when I wished I never knew Darry and that I would never see him again. That was last year, however. Soda was starring at me in horror. How could I have not wanted him to follow his dreams?  
"That was harsh, man." He cleaned up his mess and placed his plate in the sink. Giving me the clean-this-up-while-I'm-gone look. I felt woozy again so I climbed into my safe bed and cuddled under the covers. Everything will be fine, I told myself, I never believe me, though.


	2. Chapter 2

Sodapop's POV

We got into the car and rode to work, after that. I couldn't believe what happened back at the house. If Darry goes through with his College deal, he will be the first Greaser ever.

"Pass my hat, will ya, Soda?" Steve called from the backseat. I reached up on the visor and grabbed his DX hat.

"Thanks, man." I could see him place it on his head through the rear-view mirror. I glanced over at Darry, his face was contorted with emotions. I could see wrinkles forming on his strong face, I wouldn't believe that he was a day under thirty.

"Alright. See you around five." Darry stopped the car and unlocked the doors. His voice was calm and clear, his muscles seemed tense and his eyes looked focused. He didn't look us in the eyes or take his eyes off the road even.

"You know he didn't mean it…he's sick. It was just a shock is all…" My voice trailed off.

"Get out," he said, sternly, "Bye."

Steve and I got out of the car with no hesitation. I buttoned my shirt and smoothed out a wrinkle on my jeans with the back of my hand. The hot Tulsa sun was beating down hard on my face. A couple minutes later a car pulled up, hungry for gasoline.

"Fill it up with the regular." The dainty voice sing-songed. She lowered the glass window and I recognized her face instantly. It was that girl I see everywhere.

"Sure. Can I see your license?" This wasn't standard procedure, but I wanted to her name and age.

"You…want to see my license?" She pulled off her sunglasses and her deep brown eyes were on me.

"Well…y-yes. It's required." She shrugged and un zipped her purse, then handed her license over to me. I glanced down at it. Laura, that's her name! Everything clicked, now.

"There ya go," she sounded confused, "you look familiar."

"So do you. Probably from my dreams." She laughed and I rested my arm on the roof of her car, peering into her window.

"I'm Laura, by the way, and…you are?"

"Soda, Sodapop Curtis."

"Curtis, Curtis…where have I heard that name before. Do you have a brother or sister?"

"Two brothers. Darry and Ponyboy." Her eyes widened.

"My best friend is dating your brother!"

"Darry has a girlfriend? Why didn't he ever tell me?" My voice raised slightly and she giggled at my reaction.

"No, not Darry, Ponyboy."

"Ponyboy has a girlfriend? Why didn't he ever tell me?" She laughed some more.

"I don't know, Sodapop, but you seem like a nice guy." She smiled up at me, I flashed a grin right back. A weird smell floated through the air. Was it love, maybe? Oh my God! The gas!

"You'd better get that, huh?" Laura laughed at my forgetfulness. I nodded and rushed over to the gas pump, pulled it out of the car and hung it up. I gave her six gallons extra.

"So are you busy tomorrow night?" I finally asked.

"Yes." She said, and I slumped down.

"Well, what are you doing?"

"Oh, it's just a little get together with my closest girl-friends. Then we're having a sleepover. Ya know what? Ponyboy's girlfriend will be there."

"Is Pony going, too?"

"She is probably going to invite him, yeah. We're each allowed to invite someone…" Her voice trailed off.

"Oh really? And you are you inviting?" I asked, looking passed the car, eyeing Steve who gave me two thumbs up.

"well, I as thinking, maybe, if you weren't busy, you'd like to come?"

"I'm there." I said, coolly.

"Okay then, I'll see you tomorrow night." She smiled a quick little smile, then put her car into gear. I was moving her license in my hand, waiting for her to leave, she stayed put, starring at me.

"My license?" She asked, finally.

"Oh…right." I flushed, handing it over to her.

"Goodbye, Sodapop." With that, she drove off into what was left of the sunset. Steve started walking toward me.

"Smooth." He laughed, whipping me with his grease-filled rag.

"Like you could've done any better, huh?" I chucked as Laura's car made a left down Independence Street.

"Hey man, I aint judging! But, I do hope that you and Pony have fun at your little tea party!" He burst out with laughter.

"And I hope you have fun sittin' at home by yourself!" I struck back, laughing. It was on. I was NOT about to let him win.

"Oh, I won't be alone, you can bet on that." He said.

"Oh yeah, who would wanna keep you company, man?"

"Someone…I'd rather not say." Steve answered, slyly.

"You got nothin'!" I was laughing so hard, almost gasping for air.

"You just don't know her, that's all…"

"Oh yeah? What's her name?" I calmed down, letting out a small chuckle.

"Her name is…"

"Yeah…?"

"Sammy."

"Sammy?" I asked. "Whose that?"

"See, I told you, you didn't know her."

"Yeah your right. So what do you two love birds have planned for tomorrow evening?" I asked.

"We're going to be sitting on my couch…alone."

He won…damn.


	3. Chapter 3

Laura's POV

It was kinda late when I got home. All the lights were off in my house and each room was filled with silence. I heard footsteps.

"Where were you young lady?"My dad's raspy voice from the hallway.

"I…uh, was at Nicole's house." I lied, trying to keep my voice down.

"It's one o' clock in the morning, get to bed. Now." Without even thinking I headed up the stairs and my phone rang. Thank God it was on vibrate!

"Hello?" My voice was almost a whisper.

"Hey, it's me."

"Hey Nikki, what's up? It's so late, and you know my dad…" I cradled the phone on my shoulder and slipped into my pajamas.

"I heard about you and Soda!" She squealed.

"Wait, how did you…when did he?" I sputtered, confused.

"Re-lax! Pony told me." She said in her matter-of-fact voice.

"Oh, well did he, ya know, say anything about me?" I nestled under my covers and reached over to turn off my lamp that stood tall on my night table.

"Actually yeah, he thinks you're "the most coolest girl ever" and he couldn't stop bragging!" We both shrieked our girly shrieks and my dad yelled something, but I couldn't here him too clearly because Nicole was still screaming.

"Really? He said that?" I sounded happy.

"Would I _ever _lie to you?"

"Naw, I guess not." I smiled.

"Hey, what took you so long to get home; you left my house around nine."

"I was…riding around the neighborhood." I said.

"Oh yeah? For four hours?" She questioned.

"Yeah, what the big? I was thinking about Sodapop."

"Aw!" She squawked.

"Cut it out." I giggled. "So did you invite Ponyboy to the party tomorrow night?"

"Yeah I did, but he says he's sick, he's gonna come anyway though." She said cheerfully.

"Let's three way him." I suggested.

"Okay, but I thought it was late…?" She said mockingly. I heard her click over to the other line and I waited.

"Hello?" Ponyboy answered, sounding really cool. I guess it runs in the family.

"Hey Pony! It's Nicole and Laura!" Nicole said in her perky voice.

"Oh hey, girls. Hey wait a minute, Laura, shouldn't you be talking to Sodapop?" Everyone laughed.

"Yeah, is he home from work yet?" I asked, realizing how dumb that question was.

"Yup, he's been home for a couple of hours now, do you wanna talk to him?

"I do, but Nicole probably wants to talk to you…"

"Yes, I want to talk to Ponyboy." Nicole said, pretending that she'd be sad ifs he didn't get her way.

"Okay, I'll stay." Pony said, finally.

:Yay! Laura can talk to Sodapop in a few minutes." Everyone agreed that was a good idea.

"Why don't we all just meet up somewhere?" Ponyboy suggested.

"Okay! Where?" Nicole asked.

"I don't know about that, I mean, my dad would throw a fit. You guys have fun though." I said.

"No, I'm not going anywhere with ought you, Laura, sorry Pony, you boys will just have to wait."  
"Oh darn" He said, Nicole and I giggled.

"So, what did you do today, Ponyboy?" Nicole asked. I spaced out, thinking about Soda. His golden brown hair and his high cheek boned. I didn't hear Pony's response.

"Laura?! Are you still there?" Nicole hollered through the phone, I snapped out of my daze.

"Y-yeah. Sorry, I was…thinking."

"About Soda?" She asked.

"Okay, that settles it! Soda! Come here!" Ponyboy called, his voice was getting farther and farther away. My heart was pounding fast and I could feel the blood draining from my face.

"Laura?" His smooth, genial voice came through the phone, like a God.

"Hey Sodapop." I said, trying not to seem too eager. I could hear Nicole giggling.

"How've ya been, darlin'?" Did he just call me darling? Ahhhh! I could practically see Nicole's mouth drop.

"I-I'm doing good. What about you?" With each word, I was becoming more and more relaxed, his voice was so calming.

"I was okay a couple minutes ago, but now that I'm talking to you, I feel amazing." A smile was tattooed to my mouth and I could hear Ponyboy saying "slick" in the background. Say something


End file.
